Richard III was defeated and slain in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, which has traditionally marked the terminus of the Mediæval period for England. There are currently plans to inter him in Leicester near where he died, but the Plantagenet Alliance is seeking to stop that and inter him in York, which is a city which Richard III always had a close connection with as he was of the House of York. It appears that a legal battle may be forthcoming over where he shall be buried. The Yorkists are adamant that Richard would want to be interred in northern England. But others want him buried near where his body was found.

It seems that the famous poster of Lord Kitchener, pointing at you and saying that ‘your country needs you’ which has inspired countless imitation by so many others (particularily the American’s Uncle Sam) is actually a myth as it was not a poster but a magazine cover.

“In his new book, Your Country Needs You, Mr Taylor traced the picture back to its origins, on 5th September 1914, barely a month after the start of the war.

On that day, the image was used on the front cover of the popular magazine London Opinion, beneath the masthead, and alongside two promotional offers: “This paper insures you for £1,000” and “50 photographs of YOU for a shilling”.

It had been designed by Alfred Leete, a graphic artist, who had adapted a portrait of Kitchener to give him the distinctive pointing finger. The slogan was adapted from the official call to arms, which said: “Your King and Country Need You”.

In a subsequent edition, a week later, the magazine, which had a circulation of almost 300,000, said readers would be able to buy postcards of the image for 1s. 4d for 100.

Despite this, Mr Taylor has not been able to track down any surviving examples in public or private collections. He is now offering a £100 reward for anyone who can find the first.

Mr Taylor, who will present his research at an event at the National Army Museum, west London, next month, found that the original artwork for the magazine was acquired by the Imperial War Museum in 1917 and was mistakenly catalogued as part of the poster collection, contributing to later misunderstanding about its use.

“There has been a mass, collective misrecollection. The image’s influence now is absolutely out of all kilter with the reality of its initial impact. It has taken on a new kind of life. It is such a good image and saying that it was later seized upon. Some many historians and books have used it and kept repeating how influential it was, that people have come to accept it…””

Mr Taylor’s book shows how the Kitchener image did inspire similar posters, which were used, including one, which was produced by LO, with the word BRITONS, above the same picture of the Field Marshal pointing, with the words “wants YOU – Join Your Country’s Army!”, beneath, and the words ‘God Save The King’ printed along the bottom.

However, Mr Taylor said there was no evidence the poster was particularly popular or a dominant design of the war, as some historians have claimed.

The only occasion in which the image and the wording did appear in poster form was an elaborate design, when the words and picture appear, in a smaller scale, below five flags and surrounded by details or rates of pay and other information, including the additional slogan – “Your Country is Still Calling. Fighting Men! Fall In!!”. The effect is very different from the image of popular imagination and again, Mr Taylor found no evidence it was particularly widespread or popular at the time.

He found that the most popular poster of the era, in terms of numbers produced, did feature Kitchener, but without the pointing finger and featuring a 30-word extract from a speech he had made.”

Mr. Taylor’s new book Your Country Needs You does sound fascinating. But then I quite like First World War poster design, although most of them had far too much text, the reduction of ‘chattyness’ was a definite improvement in Second World War poster art, although I personally feel that the Canadian posters of the Second World War were far too standardised and government controlled, generally lacking in the vitality of First World War posters.

I want to let you know of a an exceptionally beautiful heraldic rendition of the Royal Line of Succession from the reign of William the Conqueror to the present. I strongly encourage everyone to peruse the site, as the picture is simply stunning. Although not currently updated for Prince George Alexander Louis, I have been assured that he will be making an updated version.

It is not only æsthetically pleasing, but educational as well, clearly displaying the royal line down through the past millennium, and also displaying the evolution of the coats of arms.